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Sexy, hip and oh-so-chic, Stephan Maloman’s photography is infused with a fashionable, editorial eye for beauty that makes people, places, and things–and most importantly you–look gorgeous. Frequently featured in leading publications and sought after by discerning couples world-wide, Stephan unobtrusively captures un-staged moments of real emotion and significance by deeply connecting with the couples he works with. Stephan’s collections are made of numerous international award-winning images- including fashion-forward engagement photos, hot boudoir shots, and stunning wedding photographs that clearly show-off the heart and passion he brings to his work. Born and raised in Germany, Stephan splits his time between Florida and New York and travels regularly for destination weddings.

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Jenny always sends me the best weddings! This one took place in Red Hook, which I think might be a first for me, so I was excited to see how cool everything turned out! Jess gives all the juicy details below…

Chris and I were married on September 12, which, as near either of us can guess, just about marked our twelfth year together. We met in college in Indiana, where I’m from. Since then, we followed each other to Texas and then to New York, and have grown together and supported each other through various crazy plans, impoverished states, graduate degrees, and a couple of different careers. Now I am a lawyer in the city, and this year, Chris completed his PhD and got an assistant professor position here. It’s been a big year, and a good year to get married!

We have lived in Brooklyn since 2001 and most of the people we wanted to celebrate with us live here, so we never considered getting married anywhere else. Brooklyn is home! We got engaged on October 2008, but didn’t really start planning until mid-to-late Spring. We wanted to have our favorite people there, and to plan a ceremony and party that fit us – warm, low-key, and classy. We *think* our wedding was those things – but we *know* that almost everybody (including us) cried at the ceremony, that the dance floor was packed at the party, and that it was the happiest day of our lives (so far).

Ceremony: Louis J. Valentino, Jr. Pier in Red Hook. We chose it because it is an intimate, secular spot and a “real place” that we can visit on our anniversaries (or anytime).

Reception: Botanica. Gorgeous, close to the pier, with amazing crafted cocktails and the perfect size for our 80 guests.

Wedding Party: We asked friends and family to be involved in and help with our ceremony, and had planning help from several good friends whom I also invited to hang out with me as I got ready for the wedding, but no matching dresses or having to stand in a row in front of everybody at the ceremony. Chris’ two brothers were his de facto groomsmen.

Photographer:Jenny Jimenez. Jenny’s photography is beautiful without being overprocessed, photojournalistic but also creative. And her subjects all look so comfortable, her warmth just comes right through her lens. She is Seattle-based, but as it turned out she was open to coming to New York for a visit in early September since she has family nearby. Jenny captured beautifully every important moment, made us and our guests look fabulous, and took a lot of care in scouting some amazing locations and shots ahead of time. And she’s a great dancer!
As far as we were concerned, those were the big things. Here are the rest:

Dress: Nicole Miller. (Okay, now that I visit your archives, I see that my dress was uberpopular this year, hahaha. One thing I love about it though is that it sort of looks different on everybody!)

Alterations: Susan Ruddie / The Wedding Dresser. Not only was her work incredible (I’m only 5’1” and my dress was not, it required some major surgery!), but she makes house calls, at least in Brooklyn. I am a terrible klutz, so the idea of traveling with my dress was terrifying. Susan even delivered it to the hotel so that I would not have to schlep it anywhere.

Music: Our friend Mike played acoustic guitar before and after the ceremony. Our other friend Mike was our DJ.

Coordination: We did not officially hire a coordinator, but Christine Viola of Exquisite Affairs Productions had worked and befriended a dear friend of mine, and she offered herself to answer a lot of our dumb questions (“Where should we stand during the ceremony?” “Are balloons a stupid decoration?” “Do we have enough tables and chairs?”) and held our hands through some last-minute issues that came up. She gave great guidance and was always positive and patient. If she had not already been booked on our wedding day, we would have hired her in a flash.

Other personal touches: As a small surprise, I had Chris’ grandfather’s watch restored and gave it to him before the ceremony. I had also found on Etsy some vintage linen hankies embroidered with our initials, knowing we’re both huge saps and would need them.

I have too many hobbies and a blog to document some of them, the major one being knitting, but I viewed our wedding as a little bit of an opportunity to try a new one – Gocco. Each Gocco project is documented, including lessons learned and resources, at Fig and Plum:

I asked Chris whether he had anything to add, and he said that the parts he remembers the most from our day are the elements we knew we wanted from the very beginning (those “big things” above), even though we obviously had a lot of other things to think about later. I feel the same way.

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We love what we do and we love photography. At Karen Hill Photography, our style of coverage is a natural, organic approach that allows the day to describe itself as we create the most beautiful and poignant wedding day story through timeless imagery.

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How beautiful is this wedding? There’s such great little details (like the paint tubes as escort cards) that are just absolutely perfect!

The most important part of our wedding was to gather our family from across the country and show them a good time. The key to that is great food, plenty to drink and a killer band! We chose The King Plow Art Center because of it’s industrial vibe and the inspiring selection of art in the gallery room. We choose W Scott Chester Photography because we knew they could creatively capture the energy of the party and the personalities of our friends and family. With the help of our coordinator Suzanne Reinhardt from Magnolia Events and Bold American Catering and Decor, we designed our wedding in classic black and white with splashes of bold colors to play off the amazing artwork. We kept the centerpieces low to the tables, and used canvas’ on mini easels as table numbers and oil paint tubes as seating cards. The bridesmaids and myself each had custom hair accessories made by House of Telsa, a boutique found on Etsy.com. The groomsmen wore suites, each with a different purple tie given to them by David and he wore a pink tie (the first gift I gave to him years ago). Using the same fabric as my birdcage veil by House of Telsa, I had a custom belt made for the ceremony, I also had custom pockets and a sweetheart neckline added to my Melissa Sweet dress. The reception started with a Georgia Peach Sweet Tea Cocktail Hour with music by DJ Fluff and light hors d’oeuvres in the gallery. For the rest of the night Hitman, a blues band from Savannah, rocked out and themed food stations consisting of fall flavors, southern classics and a stir fry noodle bar were set up around the gallery. The wedding cake by Matty Cakes was decorated with crystal dress trim and was tiered in pumpkin cake and carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. The amazing night ended with a sparkler exit!

I’m totally loving this shoot that Courtney of Merriment Events did with photographer extraordinaire, Katie Stoops! Its got such a great vintage vibe, and I definitely think that last photo with the piano is my favorite! Courtney gives a little insight below…

Our couple are college sweethearts. They’re everything that being young and in love is about.

Since we were on a college campus in this magnificent old house called “Camelot,” we took a lot of our inspiration directly from the surroundings.

Camelot is a Grey Gardens kind of place. A house you can imagine was magnificent in its day, but has since fallen in disrepair. The disrepair is the cool part though. I felt like we were going back in time, to the kind of place where vintage books line bookshelves and unpolished silver is plentiful.